If the story is very different (different characters, time period, etc.) the music should have new stuff, instead of rehashing the same themes again and again.
Hans Zimmer's style may work.
If the story is very different, Daft Punk may also work.

If the movies are so different as to make something else more appropriate than huge orchestras, that would be a shame. Even if the characters and time period change, I would hope that the idea is still to tell an epic (used not in the everyday sense but in the classic literary/film sense) story and that demands the kind of music we are used to hearing in the current six films.

Don't get me wrong; I love me some Daft Punk and Hans Zimmer is my second favorite film composer behind Williams, but I would be somewhat upset if SW changed to the point that guys like Williams' and Giacchino's styles are not the most appropriate anymore.

I'm not saying I want a style change from the epic stuff we get from Williams. I'm saying that if the story is very different, in that it deals with significantly different characters, events, etc. some new themes (aka Across the Stars, etc.) should be also changed accordingly.

I thought some of the prequel stuff was great. Duel of the Fates and Battle of the Heroes gave me chills the same way that the Throne Room Duel in RotJ did.

That said, if we can't have Williams, I'll toss my vote in for Desplat as well. His Deathly Hallows work was not only fantastic, but probably felt the closest to embracing Williams's original vision without simply parroting it.

I play French horn because of Star Wars. Nothing else has inspired me more than this series. There will not be an alteration to the symphonic genre of the Star Wars music, otherwise there will be a mutiny within the fans.

My few cents: John Williams has made his undeniable mark on the movie industry. He has "quoted" famous symphonic literature and made it into his own style of writing in key moments in the saga. Williams revolved the music around the ideas of Wagner's leitmotifs (giving motifs/themes to characters), and he evolved his music from what he wrote in the beginning, starting in 1977. Ever since A New Hope, he has used the same themes and carried them across the entire movies. Now, the new composer MUST keep this formula, and IMO, John Williams may need to write for all the movies now so that we do not have an alternate composer. I am a purist and I believe that no one else will ever do Star Wars justice like John Williams. His themes have become too iconic in our culture and although there have been several composers to pop up on the soundtrack radar lately, none have come close to Williams' success. HOWEVER, my top choices in order of my most/least favorite, as a classical musician, would be:

Oh, and if they don't get the London Symphony to play, that will be a big problem with me. There is a traditional "London" sound for each respective instrument, and Hollywood will not capture that quite as eloquently. This is a very sensitive matter to me, and the Star Wars team must view it the same way.

One of the things I love about SW is the music. I love John Williams' scores! Each SW movie has the main theme at the beginning and end. I like how Ep.1 has a host of new themes, but with just a slight touch of the themes in Ep.4-6. And, through Ep.2 and 3, the themes get closer and closer to those of 4-6. So, I would think that Ep.7 would have a lot of the same themes as 4-6 and start moving into new themes through Ep.9.

I have to respectfully disagree with the idea that Hans Zimmer would not be a good choice to do a potential Star Wars soundtrack. Perhaps not the ideal choice, as this ultimately depends on variables we don't know yet (the director, the overall tone of the movie, the producers' story arc for the trilogy, etc...), but to reject him out of hand isn't fair. As a German composer, he is indeed well suited to understand the concept of Wagnerian themes, as it is something he used in the writing of his Gladiator soundtrack. In the score booklet, he said the following:

I had this idea that all the action sequences should be waltzes, like Viennese waltzes. You can't think of anythink more fluffy and civilized and such a beautiful form - everything is just so, and perfect. And I thought, What if I take the shape, the form of a waltz and just make it bloody, and savage, and brutal?
[...]
When I first looked at what Ridley had done with Rome I suddenly realized that this was really a Leni Riefestahl homage to Rome. And so I shamelessly put on my German hat and went into this Wagner territory.

To wit, this passage form the score wouldn't be out of place in a SW film. Imagine it, if you will, as the arrival to a restored Coruscant or to Bastion, the Empire's capital:

So we know that with the franchise moving to Disney, Fox will not be distributing Episode VII. That means the 20th Century Fox fanfare is out. That's a significant change. When I was a kid whenever my parents would pop a VHS in and the fanfare would start I would always assume it was Star Wars. It's still weird to hear the fanfare and not see a Star Wars movie afterward.

The real question is whether John Williams should score the movie. His scores, at least for the first three films, are amazing. His scores for the most recent movies were, imo, lesser works. He's getting older and it might be time for him to step aside just like Lucas. There are plenty of talented musicians who could make his/her respective name with scoring a Star Wars film. I don't want someone like Hans Zimmer, Gabriel Yared, James Howard, etc. to score this puppy. I say that either Williams returns or it's given over to some nascent prodigy in the music industry.

So is it time for Williams to go? Should an established name get to score? Should it be a newbie?

yes williams has done enough for the brand, he needs to stay away from this new next generation movies and so should ben burtt, its time for New talent to come in and write a score and new theme for Star Wars.

John Williams will be 83 years old when Episode VIII gets released... i can't see him doing any of the score for the new trilogy. I don't really mind who replaces him, so long as it's John Williams-esque and fits with the previous 6 movies.

i hope it is totally different from the Fox Palpatine movies. The new composer should have their own style.

Ya know... what I think may be sacriledge, BUT..... I don't think Williams should return, weird? I love ALL the soundtracks ALL of em. But I think what they should do is take the scores as they are and infuse a youthfulness to it. As Michael Giacchino did with the Star Trek themes. Director is changing, Lucas aint gonna do it. Which means the energy will be different already. I say that flows through into the score.

I realized something today: A sequel trilogy means potentially more of one of my absolute favorite themes: "Luke and Leia". Since it was written for ROTJ and used very briefly in that film, it's remained sadly semi-obscure. I hope to hear it again in EpVII, not just because I find it incredibly beautiful, but also because it would help tie the trilogies together.

BTW: I also believe that "Victory Celebration" could (and should) be used as a powerful theme - for the Republic, perhaps. Just imagine that melody performed by a full symphony orchestra. Goosebumps!

So we know that with the franchise moving to Disney, Fox will not be distributing Episode VII. That means the 20th Century Fox fanfare is out. That's a significant change. When I was a kid whenever my parents would pop a VHS in and the fanfare would start I would always assume it was Star Wars. It's still weird to hear the fanfare and not see a Star Wars movie afterward.

The real question is whether John Williams should score the movie. His scores, at least for the first three films, are amazing. His scores for the most recent movies were, imo, lesser works. He's getting older and it might be time for him to step aside just like Lucas. There are plenty of talented musicians who could make his/her respective name with scoring a Star Wars film. I don't want someone like Hans Zimmer, Gabriel Yared, James Howard, etc. to score this puppy. I say that either Williams returns or it's given over to some nascent prodigy in the music industry.

So is it time for Williams to go? Should an established name get to score? Should it be a newbie?

yes williams has done enough for the brand, he needs to stay away from this new next generation movies and so should ben burtt, its time for New talent to come in and write a score and new theme for Star Wars.

You must understand that not everything in this world needs to adapt to the times. There are timeless orchestras out there, such as the Vienna Philharmonic, that use old instruments to create the sounds they do. Just as some filmmakers prefer to stay with film rather than go digital, so it shall be with the music. Star Wars is NOT Star Wars without the orchestral score. There is no room for opinion on this because fans have been captured since the beginning due to the music. It inspired a new generation of instrumentalists such as myself. Making a timeless artifact such a Star Wars current with a new genre of soundtrack will "destroy all for which Lucas has fought and suffered."

I realized something today: A sequel trilogy means potentially more of one of my absolute favorite themes: "Luke and Leia". Since it was written for ROTJ and used very briefly in that film, it's remained sadly semi-obscure. I hope to hear it again in EpVII, not just because I find it incredibly beautiful, but also because it would help tie the trilogies together.

BTW: I also believe that "Victory Celebration" could (and should) be used as a powerful theme - for the Republic, perhaps. Just imagine that melody performed by a full symphony orchestra. Goosebumps!

Luke and Leia are twins
/LM

It's reasons like this that Star Wars has no choice but to take from which it has been given, otherwise this saga will become irrelevant. There has been so much material provided by Lucas for there not to be additions to previous themes from the saga. My only question is what they will pick out from the movies to use in the new one.

Star Wars is NOT Star Wars without the orchestral score. There is no room for opinion on this because fans have been captured since the beginning due to the music. It inspired a new generation of instrumentalists such as myself. Making a timeless artifact such a Star Wars current with a new genre of soundtrack will "destroy all for which Lucas has fought and suffered."

No one said not to use an orchestral score. Or indeed, to start from scratch or change genres. But a skilled composer will know enough about music to adapt his style to the one best suited for the movie. There are composers who have their signature style and export it to all the movies they compose for, and there are composer who are versatile enough to plunge in and give us something new and fresh for each movie.

There has been so much material provided by Lucas for there not to be additions to previous themes from the saga. My only question is what they will pick out from the movies to use in the new one.

So you're saying the creative process should be stopped and we should be content with what Williams (or Lucas) has already written? What if the new trilogy introduces us to new worlds or characters who would benefit of their own signature themes? It is utterly unreasonable to suggest that the music shouldn't evolve with it. It's as if Howard Shore didn't come up with new themes for the Hobbit trilogy, because he had enough left over from the Lord of the Rings.

But we need someone who can imitate John Williams' work, not someone who has recently turned to the method of using a soundboard and calling it music.

The key word here is "emulate", not "imitate". Taking Williams' work and bringing it further along. And a soundboard is a tool, nothing more. Of course the overall style of the music should be homogeneous, but there's no question that the music of the new trilogy will be slightly different from what we know, just as the music from the Prequels was a certain departure from that of the Original Trilogy.